Leads Presented & Designed by:

What is a Lead? A lead is the beginning or introduction of your paper. The lead grabs your reader’s attention and refuses to let go. It hooks the reader!

Lead Rules Your lead is always your 1 st paragraph. It should be at LEAST 3 sentences long. Indent, Indent & Indent!

Never begin your lead with… Hi, my name is… In this report I will tell you about… I am going to tell you…

Pay Attention! The following slides contain ideas on how to write an interesting lead. Take notes! Put your notes in a safe place for easy reference.

Question: Open with an interesting question that relates to the main idea. A strong question is one we all want to know the answer to. Weak Example In this paper I will attempt to answer the question why history is important. Strong Example What’s the point of studying history? Who cares what happened long ago? After all, aren’t the people in history books dead?

Snapshot: When you paint a picture, you draw the reader in. Notice the difference between these two leads. Weak Example Ice-skating is my favorite sport. Strong Example It’s ten degrees below zero and the river is frozen a foot thick. It makes snapping sounds like the limbs of trees cracking. A lone figure glides along the black ice. The only sound is the scraping of each blade as it bites into the river. That’s me doing my favorite sport, ice-skating.

Bold & Challenging Statement: This is meant to cause some people to disagree with what you say. It’s like one side of an argument. Example Using horses and cattle in the sport of rodeo is animal abuse. What makes it more aggravating is that it is legal. According to the law, there is nothing wrong with chasing an animal down, tightening a rope around its neck, knocking it to the ground, and tying its legs together so it cannot move.

Opinion: Open with your opinion about the topic. This is similar to a bold and challenging statement, but you let the reader know that it is your opinion right away. Example In my opinion, the driving age should be lowered to fourteen. Most teenagers are more responsible than adults give us credit for being. Just because we are teenagers does not mean we are irresponsible and dangerous.

Quotation: Open with a quotation from a person. It could be someone you know personally. You still must put it in quotation marks and give credit to the person who said it. Example When I was a child, my mother always told me “can’t never did anything”. This was her standard response anytime I tried to tell her I couldn’t do something. She taught me to believe in myself and to always try.

Personal Experience: Open with something that has happened to you, or a personal experience. It needs to relate to the topic. Example When I was a little girl, I loved rainy days. My family would all gather together in the living room to watch movies and munch on popcorn. It was a cozy time and one of peace between my brothers and I. To this day, watching movies is my all time favorite activity.

Figurative Language: Must relate to your topic. Types of Figurative Language Simile: Comparison using like or as Metaphor: Comparison saying one thing is another thing. Personification: Giving something human qualities. Hyperbole: Exaggeration

Figurative Example The pencil sharpener was always hungry. It ate my pencil every time I went to sharpen it. It never seemed to do this to anyone’s pencil but mine. What was so special about my pencils?

General Statement : Begin with a general statement containing 3 or more ideas about your topic. Information is GENERAL not specific. The specific details that support the general statement will appear later in the paper. Example There are many characteristics that a good teacher possesses. However, the three important characteristics include being a good listener, being knowledgeable about the subject, and having a kind heart. All of the teachers who positively influenced me had all three of those characteristics in common.

Don’t forget that your lead is one of the most important parts of your paper. Do not BORE your reader! HOOK them and make them want to read more. Remember, “Can’t never did anything!”